This was a book about first contact between humans and an alien race that is actually alien, similar to ‘A Mote in God’s Eye’ or ‘A Deepness in the Sky’. I liked the chapters detailing the development of the arachnid aliens, and the author’s biology background really shines through. I didn’t get engaged in the human plots. In the end I just kinda felt like the human characters who were depicted as at risk of going extinct, should just do so already. Don’t think I’ll continue the series.